Manufacturing sector prepares for hiring uptrend

India's manufacturing industry is expected to witness a significant uptick in hiring activities in coming years amid improving business sentiments and the government's focus on this sector, HR experts believe.

The recent surveys suggest that export orders are growing considerably, while rising domestic demand is expected to further boost the growth rates for the manufacturing sector.

As part of India's national manufacturing policy (NMP), the country is seeking to boost the sector's growth and ramp up its share in the country's GDP to 25 per cent from the current 15-16 per cent over the next decade. The target is to create 100 million jobs by 2022.

Talking about the steps required to meet this target of creating 100 million jobs can be achieved, leading industrial manufacturing major Aequs' Chairman and CEO Aravind Melligeri said: "As for most of the policies, successful implementation will depend on enabling legislation."

While the Union Budget 2014-15 had many encouraging signals for manufacturing and business sentiment has improved, there was less than expected progress on tax and labour law reforms, particularly with regard to SEZs, he said.

"In light of this, we are optimistic but guarded about the future," Melligeri added.

"At an entry level, there seems to be good supply of talent from the different technical institutions. This way, I feel we are ready to face the growing demands of the business. But there is a worrying void for good quality Managers who can be developed into Leaders," German conglomerate Freudenberg's Regional Corporate Center (India) HR Head Srinivas Ghanagam said.

In the coming months, the companies are likely to focus on hiring people and on training them as a measure to specialise them and build their foundation for the next financial year when the industrial landscape will become competitive than ever before, HR managers believe.

While the talent crunch is definitely a key consideration in manufacturing sector, it cannot be held as an excuse to deter India from robust manufacturing.

Companies are creating in-house learning capabilities, which focus not only on the current requirements but also on creating a talent pool for the industry. Moreover, there has also been a shift of focus from non-manufacturing to manufacturing study module, given the growth of rich opportunities in the growing industry.

"Hiring will happen across grades right from the shop- floor machine operator to administrative department to front- office as it'll be a holistic capacitative expansion of plants and not just increasing capability," Melligeri said.